Leo A. Cowan

1915-2010

Leo Anthony Cowan, 94, of Hilton Head Island, died July 6, 2010, at his residence at Hawthorne Inn.

He was born in Fayetteville, Ark., on Sept. 27, 1915, and graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1937. He began working for Exxon-Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1937, and spent the next 40 years at various Exxon locations, domestic and overseas, except for four years in the armed services from 1941-1945. He married Alice Mae Wadley of Omaha, Neb., on Dec. 18, 1945, and returned to overseas service with Exxon-Venezuela. He subsequently transferred to Exxon-New York, where he retired in 1976.

Survivors include wife, Alice Mae Cowan of Hilton Head Island; and three daughters, Mary Jo Savage of Hilton Head Island, Jennifer Anne Cernak of La Crosse, Wis., and Joan F. McKnight of Tampa, Fla. Other survivors are 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was a member of the St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church where a memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the Rev. Michael J. Oenbrink officiating. Internment of ashes will conclude the celebration and will be at the St. Francis by the Sea columbarium.